1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to traps for animals, and especially small animals such as mice and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to a live small animal trap which is rugged, economical, simple to set and easy to bait.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Live traps for small animals are numerous and well known in the field. Such traps generally comprise a trap housing and at least one door, which in a first open set position allows the animal to enter the trap housing, and in a second closed position closes the housing to prevent an animal from leaving the trap. Many different door closing mechanisms are disclosed in the prior art and those of particular interest generally rely upon the forces of gravity to move the door from the first open position to the second closed position when the latching mechanism has been activated.
A search of prior art discloses numerous patents in this field. Pertinent prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,478,605 to Symens; 3,483,652 to Hanlan, 4,310,984 to Brubaker, Jr., and 5,345,710 to Bitz. The tripping mechanisms of the prior art traps generally rely on single point setting of the trap latch.
Ideally, trap housings are sized to accommodate the size of the animal to be trapped. However, in the case of traps designed for mice and other small animals, the trap housings are usually oversized in order to permit baiting of the trap, because a trap housing sized for a chipmunk or mouse would be too small to accommodate an adult hand. Such oversized traps are wasteful of materials in making these oversized traps, and thus uneconomical to produce. Such traps are further limited in where they may be placed. Despite the numerous prior art, there still remains a need for an improved live capture small animal trap that is reliable, simple to set, and that can be conveniently set by a without requiring an oversized trap.